Topic: VA Medical Center
started by: usmcr
Posted by usmcr on Jun. 25 2014,11:22 am
i am a veteran, so i decided to sign up for the medical benefits. sent in the paper work & received back the confirmation information. they require a picture id card. checked out the new facility in town & they informed me that i would have to go to mpls to take the picture. mason city as well as rochester also does not take the pictures. so in order to have anything done in a.lea i have to go to mpls first. if i want a passport all i need to do is go up to the post office. go figure!~goverment don't you just love it! 
Posted by Expatriate on Jun. 25 2014,12:14 pm
I’m a veteran, I consider the VA to be a taxpayer liability abused by a bunch of my fellow veterans who drink, smoke and eat themselves into disease and expect free care and a pension for their reckless behavior.The VA (Medical) should be limited to those with purple hearts and wound related care only.
Posted by Self-Banished on Jun. 25 2014,1:31 pm
(Expatriate @ Jun. 25 2014,12:14 pm)
QUOTE
The VA (Medical) should be limited to those with purple hearts and wound related care only.
Unbelievable!
Posted by MADDOG on Jun. 25 2014,1:58 pm
That's what I thought. No doubt there is abuse in the system. I personally know people abusing it. Maybe they should give all those vets who are smoking and drinking themselves into disease a lawn chair and a Garand and set them on the border to work on their sharp shooter skills.
Posted by Self-Banished on Jun. 25 2014,2:49 pm
(Expatriate @ Jun. 25 2014,12:14 pm)
QUOTE
The VA (Medical) should be limited to those with purple hearts and wound related care only.
Is this what you really think?
Posted by alcitizens on Jun. 25 2014,3:18 pm
(usmcr @ Jun. 25 2014,11:22 am)
QUOTE
i am a veteran, so i decided to sign up for the medical benefits. sent in the paper work & received back the confirmation information. they require a picture id card. checked out the new facility in town & they informed me that i would have to go to mpls to take the picture. mason city as well as rochester also does not take the pictures. so in order to have anything done in a.lea i have to go to mpls first. if i want a passport all i need to do is go up to the post office. go figure!~goverment don't you just love it!
My Dad always had to go 70 miles to St. James or 90 miles to Minneapolis for a VA Dr's appointment.. Now there is an Albert Lea location..
Buy health insurance if you don't like how the VA works..
Suck it up soldier..
Posted by MADDOG on Jun. 25 2014,3:57 pm
Suck it up soldier.. 
o' boy. 
Posted by irisheyes on Jun. 25 2014,4:42 pm
(usmcr @ Jun. 25 2014,11:22 am)
QUOTE
if i want a passport all i need to do is go up to the post office. go figure!~goverment don't you just love it!
The Albert Lea VA clinic isn't government run. They're actually a privatized outfit. When they first announced it they said it was run by some corporation out of Kentucky.
Posted by usmcr on Jun. 25 2014,7:23 pm
alcitizens: i might suggest that you suck it up along with your assumptions! fyi i do have medical insurance & have had since my retirement! from my understanding the va will bill my insurance co if i choose to utilize their services of which i am entitled to. if i may be so bold to ask, did you serve our country? perhaps you missed my logo or handle so this is who i served with - US Marine Corps. 
Posted by Expatriate on Jun. 25 2014,10:08 pm
The acronym USMR stands for a reserve unit, which means you could have possibly spent as little as four months active duty, that’s neither here nor there maybe you spent several years active before transferring to the reserve corps, but seeing you chose USMR I’d say you were a reserve from day one.
Posted by usmcr on Jun. 25 2014,10:36 pm
again assumptions! it just so happens that usmc was already taken by a fellow marine on this forum! fyi i spent four years in the corps with two tours of duty in korea & like you say that is neither here nor there! what is the nick picking all about!!!! being critical about ones service is indeed uncalled for imho! if i may i will correct you in regards to my acronym it is usmcr not usmr just to set the record straight!
Posted by Expatriate on Jun. 25 2014,11:17 pm
If you have a service connected issue such as a combat wound or you spent time as POW, contracted a tropical disease such as Malaria etc. or other active service connect issues by all means we as citizens/taxpayers should provide for you.The CBO is projecting the VA will spend 85 Billion a year treating veterans by 2020.
At the current cost of medical treatment I don't believe we can continue to treat everyone.
If you're an actual Korean War veteran and are having issues related to that experience yes by all means but if you're like me Drafted in 1969 but lucky enough to come out in one piece just a little crazier no, I
No I can take care of myself, I helped Uncle Sam out once when he was in trouble, well he's in trouble again financially
this time and we veterans who were lucky enough not to bleed shouldn't be looking for entitlements even if legally obtainable. IMHO
this is in noway a personal attack or meant to belittle you USMCR,
Posted by Self-Banished on Jun. 26 2014,4:31 am
(Expatriate @ Jun. 25 2014,11:17 pm)
QUOTE
The CBO is projecting the VA will spend 85 Billion a year treating veterans by 2020.
At the current cost of medical treatment I don't believe we can continue to treat everyone.
At the current cost of medical treatment I don't believe we can continue to treat everyone.
So you should probably have the metal plate in your head removed and replaced with a plastic one before they cut you off.
Posted by alcitizens on Jun. 26 2014,7:14 am
(usmcr @ Jun. 25 2014,7:23 pm)
QUOTE
alcitizens: i might suggest that you suck it up along with your assumptions! fyi i do have medical insurance & have had since my retirement! from my understanding the va will bill my insurance co if i choose to utilize their services of which i am entitled to. if i may be so bold to ask, did you serve our country? perhaps you missed my logo or handle so this is who i served with - US Marine Corps.
No I never served in the Military.. I got turned down because they said my blood pressure was too high multiple times..
A trip to the Minneapolis VA to bond with fellow vets and get your ID would make for a nice little trip..
Posted by ControlledHyperness on Jun. 26 2014,6:28 pm
Just throwing this out there Expat...There are more wounds than visible scars show. I know from personal experience.
Granted, the VA helped expedite the death of one of it's vets while he was here in Mn...but that seems to be neither here nor there.
Posted by irisheyes on Jun. 26 2014,6:39 pm
(usmcr @ Jun. 25 2014,10:36 pm)
QUOTE
it just so happens that usmc was already taken by a fellow marine on this forum... i will correct you in regards to my acronym it is usmcr not usmr just to set the record straight!
I never asked, but I just figured the "r" at the end of your username meant retired from the Marines.
I didn't think about the passport comparison much until now, but you think they could do the VA ID similarly. Just a picture taken at Walgreens or the post office, mail in the forms with your birth certificate. But apparently the folks at Veterans Affairs have other ideas.
Posted by Expatriate on Jun. 27 2014,12:21 pm
(ControlledHyperness @ Jun. 26 2014,6:28 pm)
QUOTE
Just throwing this out there Expat...
There are more wounds than visible scars show. I know from personal experience.
Granted, the VA helped expedite the death of one of it's vets while he was here in Mn...but that seems to be neither here nor there.
There are more wounds than visible scars show. I know from personal experience.
Granted, the VA helped expedite the death of one of it's vets while he was here in Mn...but that seems to be neither here nor there.
Let me assure you I know all about the mental anguish brought about by the moral dilemma the military places on the 19 year old mind.
NO MORE WAR
you can’t sue the VA, all doctors are not created equal, you get what you pay for..
Posted by usmcr on Jun. 27 2014,2:51 pm
not only do they have other ideas but you can not even get an id photo taken at the present time. their software is messed up so my trip was for naught! they did tell me that i am not in their system & will have to fill out the forms all over again that i filed with the va originally. for those of you who have not seen the va in mpls, it is huge. we saw it years ago but this new site dwarfs the old building!